Chance

One of the best new fall series and--double bonus points--it stars the great Hugh Laurie and Ethan Suplee, who ruthlessly hijacks his scenes.

Chance sometimes feels like it’s a mystery without a question, operating best when Eldon is the focus instead of Jaclyn, his indefinable patient. The series is also far from a pulse-pounding ride, a la “Breaking Bad,” as most of the first five episodes are spent establishing motivations. But Chance is buoyed by a strong supporting turn from Embry and an aptly nuanced take from the hot-like-fire Laurie, meaning audiences open to a little self-reflection should volunteer to be victims for this one.

Chance is provocative, mysterious, overdone, and, bottom line, entertaining.

A series like Chance seems natural for binge watching, and that makes Hulu's strategy of releasing episodes week by week, just like on television, seem frustrating. Fans of psychological thrillers, though, are likely to find Chance worth the wait.

Creators Alexandra Cunningham (who lit slow fuses on Desperate Housewives) and Kem Nunn (who played a similar long game on John from Cincinnati) have crafted a tersely cerebral drama in which not a single frame feels unintentionally out of place.

There’s a revelation in episode 3 that adds a new shade to Laurie’s paranoid performance. And Mol brings humanity to what could’ve been Hitchcock pastiche.

Laurie is excellent and quickly establishes Dr. Eldon Chance as a distinctly separate character from Dr. Gregory House. He is also damaged, but in his own somewhat mysterious way. Chaos proves compelling, at least for viewers.

Chance is erratic and sometimes frustrating. But it battles hard to win back approval. And overall the glitches are outweighed by the finer creative points.

At its best, the TV show has a bit of a Hitchcock feel (the doomed romance of Vertigo) and an even stronger pull toward Brian De Palma’s Hitchcock homage Obsession (1976). At its weakest, Chance is melodramatic.

There is little in the way of humor. What relief there is comes from supporting characters, like Chance's office manager, Lucy (Greta Lee), who let in a little fresh air from the normal world offstage. The performances are enjoyable.

So far it’s involving to a degree but never enthralling to the max.

There’s much about Chance that makes no sense, but the perfor­mances are terrific.

Chance is a psychological thriller that is both intriguing and intelligent. While it can come across as high brow and esoteric at times, the three episodes I watched were barely enough to keep me satiated.

The question, despite the show's excellent cast and evocative setting, is whether you have any great desire to wander through this bleak universe once again.

Though the series remains entertaining, attractively moody, and sensationally well-acted, there’s a lack of urgency and personal import that can be felt throughout that keeps this inarguably good show from being a great one.

Mildly watchable and tense, but well short of riveting.

Chance keeps threatening to blossom into the mordant comedy it ought to be, but the dawdling pace and a general dreariness of mood keep it tied down.

It can’t decide whether it wants to be a drama rooted in psychologically legitimate authenticity or a fully heightened paperback mystery in streaming form whose departures from reality can be more easily forgiven.

The problem is that Nunn’s unable to create a coherent drama or compelling thriller, in or out of his milieu. The first half of the season is a jumble of storytelling techniques, despite featuring a slew of top-notch directors, including Room’s Lenny Abrahamson.

Chance wants to be a kind of seedy California noir, complete with femme fatale but is personality-less instead.

Chance, despite a great cast and a pilot directed by Oscar nominee Lenny Abrahamson, relies too much on coincidence and gullibility to be effective. And, more damagingly, doesn’t generate the sexual heat or sense of danger that great noir needs to resonate.